Slice of (magic) Life

Chapter 16 - Elaine

"Me? Lead the Light Mages?" Elaine asked incredulously. "I've barely perfected my Light magic, and you want me to lead Mages that are literally older and better than me??"

Axle's eyes showed no uncertainty or joking however. Elaine crossed her arms, thinking.

Do I really have to do this?

Looking around, she could only see the mass of people gathering up and healing the wounded. She didn't see Monique or the twins anywhere.

After a few moments, she let out a huff. "Alright, fine. How do we gather them?"

Axle tried explaining to Elaine, "I couldn't find Miss Monique anywhere so I had to get someone else who could lead a team. I thought, 'hey why not let a Light Mage lead the charge?' But since you're the only Light Mage I know, and frankly the only other magic user I know, you were the next best option. Not that you weren't the best best option but-"

"Axle," Elaine cut him off.

"Right," he said sheepishly while scratching the back of his head. "I was thinking you could make a light beacon to get everyone's attention, then we can work from there."

Elaine nodded, still unsure of how she would even explain the absurdity of Axle's news, let alone his plan.

Walking towards the middle of the field where the Mages fought, Elaine tried looking confident. Once she reached the center there were already some people watching her.

With shaky hands, Elaine raised them over her head, closed her eyes, and began focusing. Beam of light, beam of light, she kept repeating in her mind. After a couple more seconds of quiet focus, Elaine felt her magic rush through her hands and out into the sky above.

She didn't dare look up, afraid the spell would fizz out all too soon. But she peeked to find that she was casting a shadow on the ground, letting her know it was working. Elaine looked over the gathered crowd. To her confusion, they all stared at her as if she was insane.

"Stop that right this instant!" Elaine heard a loud voice boom from the crowd. Losing focus, she stopped shining her light and awkwardly let her hands fall to her sides.

The man who yelled the order came angrily marching towards her and Axle. He stopped right in front of them, his entire frame almost twice the size of Elaine's, making both her and Axle intimidated.

"Are ya mad, girl? The Luminary may be invisible, but no amount of magic can conceal a beacon of light that huge! Especially in the dead of night."

He paused suddenly, eyeing both Elaine and Axle realizing he had never seen them before. "Now wait just a dang minute. Are you kids the ones Monique brought in with 'er from the city?" Elaine nodded slowly.

The man placed a hand over his eyes and sighed deeply. He clearly looked like someone who dealt with kids in the past and absolutely hated the experience.

"Monique you're killing me..." Elaine heard him mutter under his breath. "You two just stay here. I'll go look for Monique. She's probably off somewhere helping the 'less experienced' trainees and whatnot," he complained. "Honestly, couldn't just say weaker ones now could she?"

The man turned around and started walking off while scratching his head. Before he was out of earshot, Elaine called to him, "Hey wait! We have something important to tell you."

Immediately he stopped in his tracks and turned around. "Oh what now?" he said impatiently.

Now embarrassed and nervous because of the man's stoic-ness, Elaine's voice got caught in her throat. She poked Axle's arm to get him to explain their situation and possible counterattack.